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The View from My Kitchen

Benvenuti! I hope you enjoy il panorama dalla mia cucina Italiana -- "the view from my Italian kitchen,"-- where I indulge my passion for Italian food and cooking. From here, I share some thoughts and ideas on food, as well as recipes and restaurant reviews, notes on travel, and a few garnishes from a lifetime in the entertainment industry.

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Grazie mille!

Friday, July 17, 2015

Recipe: A Decadent Croque Madame

I Know It's French; It's Still
Delicious

I am breaking new ground here. The
“View From My Italian Kitchen” is going to veer toward France and
bring you a recipe for a decadent sandwich, the Croque Madame. (I am
part French, after all.) I suppose I could try to Italianize it by
calling it a “croccante signora” or a “tostata signora,” but
that would translate to either “crispy lady” or “toasted lady,”
neither of which would be too appropriate.

The Croque Madame is a variation of
another French classic, the Croque Monsieur. Basically a fancied up
grilled ham and cheese sandwich, the Croque Monsieur traces its
origins to French cafés
and bars in the early 20th century, first appearing on a
Parisian café menu in 1910. The
name derives from the French croquer
(“to bite”) and
monsieur,
French for “mister.” The Croque Madame variation came along
later, supposedly inspired by the addition of a fried egg, fancifully
resembling a woman's hat, to the top of the sandwich.

One thing you should know: it's pronounced "croke mah-DAHM," not "crock MAD-am." Yes, I actually heard somebody say it that way. A "chef," no less.

It's
a super simple dish that you can knock together in minutes. Here's
what you'll need for two sandwiches:

2
tbsp unsalted butter

2
tbsp all-purpose flour

1
cup milk

¾
cup coarsely grated Gruyere cheese, divided

salt
and freshly ground black pepper

½
cup shredded mozzarella (optional)

4
slices hearty white bread

¼
pound thinly sliced sliced deli ham (Black Forest ham works well)

2
lg eggs

The
only complicated part, if you can call it that, is the mornay sauce.
So let's start there and get it over with.

To
make a mornay, you have to start with a béchamel. Or as I prefer, a
besciamella. It's really not that hard. It's all about ratios and
proportions. You need three basic ingredients: flour, unsalted
butter, and milk, plus salt and pepper for seasoning. The ratio for a
simple béchamel is 2:2:1 – 2 tablespoons of flour, 2 tablespoons
of butter, and 1 cup of milk. Scale up or down as required.

Begin
by warming the milk. It's not strictly necessary, but some chefs
swear by warm milk. Others don't. Personally, I just pop the milk in
the microwave for a minute.

While
the milk is warming, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
Whisk in the flour and cook it in the melted butter for a minute or
two, stirring constantly, until a paste forms and the raw flour
flavor is cooked out. Stir in the milk, briefly bring to a boil, then
lower the heat and cook, stirring frequently, until a thick, bubbly
sauce forms, about five minutes. Season with salt and pepper to
taste. Some people like a little nutmeg. Your choice. Now you have a
béchamel.

Turn
your béchamel into a mornay by adding cheese. Gruyere is most
common, but Emmental, white cheddar, or Parmesan work well. You can
mix and match for extra flavor, or just go with Gruyere. Whisk about
half of the grated cheese into the sauce until it thoroughly melts in
and becomes smooth.

You
can make the sauce a little in advance and either remove it from the
heat and put a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the
sauce to keep a skin from forming, or you can hold it over very low
heat, giving it a frequent stir to keep it smooth and to prevent it
from sticking to the bottom of the pan. You can hold it this way for
about a half hour without having to worry about the sauce hardening,
lumping, or overreducing.

Next,
lay out your sandwich. Use a good, hearty country bread. Gummy white
sandwich bread will be totally overwhelmed. Place as much ham as you
like on two slices of the bread and top it with the remaining grated
Gruyere and maybe a little shredded mozzarella. Spoon on enough of
the mornay sauce to cover the ham and cheese and then complete your
sandwiches, covering with the other slices of bread. This is where
your kitchen equipment will play a role. I have a sandwich press in
my kitchen, so I can throw my completed sandwich on there, close it
up for a minute, and I've got a perfectly toasted sandwich. You might
have to use a broiler, a grill pan, or some other toasting medium to
get the same effect. In any case, toast the sandwiches.

Now
you need to get a couple of sunny-side up eggs going. Spray a
nonstick skillet with a little cooking spray and heat it over medium
heat. Alternately, you can melt a pat of butter, if you prefer.
Working low over the pan, so the yolk doesn't break, crack an egg
into the heated pan. If you're afraid of breaking the yolk or of
getting shell fragments in the pan, simply break the eggs into cups
or small bowls and gently pour them into the pan. I have
4-inch egg rings; nice if you've got 'em, but not essential. The pan
shouldn't be too hot. You don’t want the whites to start
solidifying the second you drop the eggs in. The whites should stay
clear for several seconds before they start to really turn white. If
a drop of water sizzles when it hits the pan, you're at about the
right temperature. Let the eggs sit there and happily cook slowly
until the whites are completely set and the yolks begin to thicken
but don't get hard. You want the yolk very runny. Takes about 4 or 5
minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and they're done.

Time to bring it all together. Put your
toasted sandwiches on plates, spoon a generous quantity of the mornay
sauce over each, and top them with the fried eggs. At La Farm, they
serve this with brunch potatoes, a mini scone and fresh fruit, but
the sandwich is wonderful all by itself.

There you have it. A wonderful French
dish that is easy to prepare, but will still impress your family and
friends. And I don't really mind that it's French because everybody
knows that the Italians taught the French how to cook in the first
place, so........enjoy!

Who Am I (and Why Should You Care)?

I've been around long enough to know a little bit about a lot of things. That said, there are a couple of things I know a little bit more about; food and entertainment.

I've been cooking since I was a kid -- a very long time, indeed -- and I've spent most of my adult life in the entertainment industry.

I've been writing about one or the other of these topics since the '80s, and I have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers over the years. I also spent the better part of two decades behind a microphone as the host of my own radio talk show.

Does all of this make me an expert? Nah! But I'm certainly entitled to my opinion -- and so are you! :-)